Rainbow Six Siege: Starter Edition available on PC for $15

Keeping any game fresh more than a month or two post-release is difficult, even for popular ones like Rainbow Six Siege. To give interested players a sampling of what the game holds in store, Ubisoft has released Rainbow Six Siege: Starter Edition, a $15 version of the game for PC.

This is a limited-time offer, though: the Starter Edition can be purchased through UPlay and Steam from today, June 2, through Sunday, June 19.

Don't presume to view Rainbow Six Siege: Starter Edition as a hobbled version of the $60 retail package. You'll be privy to all content from the full game: every game mode, every weapon, every map, and every operator. The distinguishing factor has to do with how you unlock Operators, Siege's take on character classes.

From the moment you boot the game, you'll be given two of the 20 total Operators, randomly selected from a pool of six. To unlock the rest, you'll have to grind 12,500 Renown currency per Operator—compared to having to grind between 500 and 2,000 Renown in the standard edition.

"The Renown currency is what you earn for just about everything you do in Rainbow Six Siege, namely completing Situations and Terrorist Hunt or competing in Online Multiplayer matches," per Ubisoft's Starter Edition FAQ. "You can use Renown to unlock Original and Post-Launch Operators, weapons, skins, and more."

Fortunately, you also start with 600 R6 Credits, another form of in-game currency, to buy two other operators at 300 Credits a pop. You can purchase R6 Credits with real money to speed up unlocking Operators.

As long as you don't mind extra grinding, Rainbow Six: Starter Edition looks like a great deal.

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.